Palestine: Was There a Plot to Kill Yassir Arafat?

Last week, Farouk al-Kaddoumi (pictured), a senior Palestine Liberation Organization leader, told al-Jazeera that Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas played a role in Yassir Arafat’s death in 2004. He said that he had protocols from a 2004 meeting between Israeli, American and PA representatives that clearly indicated a plan to poison Arafat. He added that former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Mohammed Dahlan, the former Palestinian security chief in Gaza, were involved in the plot.

The first reaction to the story came last Wednesday. Mahmoud Abbas suspended the operations of al-Jazeera in the West Bank. The Information Ministry stated that the station’s operations were halted until a court ruled on the case. Walid Al Omary, Al-Jazeera’s bureau chief in Jerusalem, said: “We are sorry about this decision, which we consider a violation of freedom of expression and freedom of the press in this country.”

On Thursday, Abbas rejected the accusations and said that "Kaddoumi claims to be in possession of five-year-old documents that prove (his allegations), so why did he not reveal them immediately?" Abbas added that the "lie" was aimed at torpedoing the sixth Fatah Party General Congress, scheduled to convene August 4. He continued, "He (Kaddoumi) knows full well that this information is false; he has released it to undermine the convention, but we are continuing with the preparations."

While the Palestinian Authority was having problems with the Qatar-based station, the political risks of Abbas's decision increased with the entry of Hamas into the discussion. Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman, accused the West Bank government of trying to silence the media and “cover up what is going on in the West Bank". Thus, the Arafat conspiracy theory was converted into a current political manoeuvre: Hamas is the "democratic" party seeking truth while its rival engages in "tyranny".